The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2014/10/2...am-preview

10. UAB Blazers

18-13 (7-9) t-8 CUSA

Key Losses: Chad Frazier (17.7 ppg), Rod Rucker (10.9 ppg), Fahro Alihodzic (8.8 ppg), Robert Williams (8.6 ppg)

Returners: C.J. Washington (13 ppg), Denzell Watts (3.5 ppg)

UAB was going to be a contender in Conference USA this year. The Blazers won 18 games last season and they were going to return their two leading scorers. Chad Frazier left the team in July, and now the Blazers are destined to be a middle of the road team again this season. Head Coach Jared Haase finds himself in an unexpected rebuilding year, but he does have plenty of talent to work with.

6-8 forward C.J. Washington does return as well as 6-2 guard Denzell Watts, who was a much better player as his freshman season went on and he gained experience. 6-9 freshman William Lee, Alabama's Mr. Basketball, should give the Blazers a huge boost inside next to Washington. The future is bright in Birmingham, Lee joins fellow freshmen forwards Chris Cokley (6-8) and Lewis Sullivan (6-7) in the frontcourt.

FAU and UNT are ahead of us? Really?

SBNation is what it is. On paper, yes our shot at the CUSA title took a hit with Frazier leaving. But, we still have a lot of new talent that should give us a young, but deep and talented bench. I still see us Top 5-6 in CUSA, potentially better if the freshmen step it up pretty quickly.

(10-28-2014 10:16 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  FAU and UNT are ahead of us? Really?

Finished in a 3-way tie for 8th last year and lost the leading scorer. The Blazers are going to have to prove themselves on the court.

No mention of Tosin coming back?

can't disagree with the ranking. we underachieved last year and lose a huge chunk of our team. gotta prove it on the court

(10-28-2014 11:39 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  can't disagree with the ranking. we underachieved last year and lose a huge chunk of our team. gotta prove it on the court

I agree. Coach Haase now has his players so it's time to start showing some improvement. Many people said that Mike Davis players either didn't fit Haase's system or they didn't give full effort because of his firing. Now there are no more excuses.

Scoring at the 1 might decrease, but so will the turnovers.

I'm really concerned about CUSA as a basketball conference and our whole basketball situation. We really need Rice, UTSA, Marshall, FAU, etc to get into the top 200s or it's going to be pretty terrible year in and year out. And if Haase can't do better in an easier CUSA the next 2 years, he probably needs to be let go. We lost way too many easy games last year: ECU, FIU, FAU, Tulane all within 2 weeks of each other.

Being picked 10th in this conference for Haase's third year is pretty terrible.

Rice has a good new coach and recruiting is picking up. It'll be dangerous to look past the Owls the next couple of seasons.

(10-28-2014 03:26 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  

(10-28-2014 11:39 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  can't disagree with the ranking. we underachieved last year and lose a huge chunk of our team. gotta prove it on the court

I agree. Coach Haase now has his players so it's time to start showing some improvement. Many people said that Mike Davis players either didn't fit Haase's system or they didn't give full effort because of his firing. Now there are no more excuses.

Those guys didn't fit his system. Can you really argue otherwise?

It's a strange landscape of the new CUSA:

Those with basketball pedigrees (UTEP, WKU, ODU, Charlotte, UAB)
Upstart teams with 20-win capability (LT, MT, USM)
200+ super-WTF losses waiting to happen.

(10-28-2014 09:55 PM)FNblazer Wrote:  It's a strange landscape of the new CUSA:

Those with basketball pedigrees (UTEP, WKU, ODU, Charlotte, UAB)
Upstart teams with 20-win capability (LT, MT, USM)
200+ super-WTF losses waiting to happen.

Yep. The basketball pedigree schools need to start having a lot better seasons .

RealtimeRPI 2013-2014:

34 - USM
58 - La. Tech
61 - MTSU
95 - UTEP
128 - WKU
151 - Charlotte
153 - UAB
172 - ODU
187 - UNT
200 - FIU
271 - FAU
277 - Marshall
297 - Rice
308 - UTSA

Sagarin 2013-2014:

38 - La. Tech
56 - USM
91 - MTSU
112 - UTEP
162 - WKU
163 - ODU
174 - UAB
185 - Charlotte
233 - FIU
235 - UNT
245 - Marshall
266 - FAU
312 - Rice
314 - UTSA

(10-28-2014 08:20 PM)Shrack Wrote:  I'm really concerned about CUSA as a basketball conference and our whole basketball situation. We really need Rice, UTSA, Marshall, FAU, etc to get into the top 200s or it's going to be pretty terrible year in and year out. And if Haase can't do better in an easier CUSA the next 2 years, he probably needs to be let go. We lost way too many easy games last year: ECU, FIU, FAU, Tulane all within 2 weeks of each other.

Being picked 10th in this conference for Haase's third year is pretty terrible.

I think we should just worry about UAB first. We're not helping CUSA Basketball either at the moment.

(10-28-2014 08:42 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(10-28-2014 03:26 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  

(10-28-2014 11:39 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  can't disagree with the ranking. we underachieved last year and lose a huge chunk of our team. gotta prove it on the court

I agree. Coach Haase now has his players so it's time to start showing some improvement. Many people said that Mike Davis players either didn't fit Haase's system or they didn't give full effort because of his firing. Now there are no more excuses.

Those guys didn't fit his system. Can you really argue otherwise?

I'm not arguing otherwise. But it's no longer an excuse for those that believe that was the case.

Agreed. I am very pro Haase, and I beleieve he has brought a ton of talent in. I don't expect miracles this year, but the next two better be damn strong. He has his guys in now, and outside of Rideau, his guys have performed well. Now it's time to see what twelve of his guys can do. I still have serious concerns about our depth at forward.

(10-29-2014 07:37 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Agreed. I am very pro Haase, and I beleieve he has brought a ton of talent in. I don't expect miracles this year, but the next two better be damn strong. He has his guys in now, and outside of Rideau, his guys have performed well. Now it's time to see what twelve of his guys can do. I still have serious concerns about our depth at forward.

+1

Also, youth and its accompanying immaturity, both mental and physical...

(10-29-2014 07:44 AM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(10-29-2014 07:37 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Agreed. I am very pro Haase, and I beleieve he has brought a ton of talent in. I don't expect miracles this year, but the next two better be damn strong. He has his guys in now, and outside of Rideau, his guys have performed well. Now it's time to see what twelve of his guys can do. I still have serious concerns about our depth at forward.

+1

Also, youth and its accompanying maturity, both mental and physical...

I'm thinking Coach Haase will have us in a 4 guard alignment about 85% of the time.

This year? With lee cokley mehinti and cj?

(10-29-2014 12:41 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  This year? With lee cokley mehinti and cj?

Those 4 are just not enough depth to cover 2 positions .